


No Girls Allowed

by jrugg



Category: Doctor Who RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-28
Updated: 2014-08-31
Packaged: 2018-02-15 02:08:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2211774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jrugg/pseuds/jrugg
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Boarding school AU-when Catherine is sent to an all boys school to further her drama education she develops a major crush on a fellow student.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I received this as a prompt on Tumblr and fell in love with the idea of what if David was one of the students at the all boys school Catherine attended as a teenager. I hope you enjoy!

Catherine smoothed down her plaid skirt for what felt like the twentieth time on her way to school. She was no stranger to the uniform look but this year she wouldn't blend in with the crowd and be among the girls she had known her whole life, this year she would have the eyes of one hundred teenage boys on her, most likely at all times.

When her former secondary school abolished sixth form at the end of the previous school year, Catherine and the rest of the girls in her year were forced to scatter and find alternate options for schooling. Knowing that she wanted to pursue acting and perhaps an education in the dramatic arts, the only real option for Catherine had been a local Catholic school that offered the needed drama facilities. The only hitch was that it was an all boys school.

Her mother, along with the mothers of four other girls who were also interested in drama, had persuaded the school's headmaster to admit their daughters for sixth form so here Catherine was, sixteen years old and about to enter a new school where she was definitely going to stick out. Part of her was thrilled at the attention she was bound to get from the boys, attention that she hated to admit had been severely lacking up until this point in her life. Another part of her was terrified. She had somewhat gotten over the shyness that had plagued her in early childhood and she had ditched her glasses for contacts in the past year but her hair was still impossibly curly and frizzy and, well, ginger and she'd always be covered from head to toe in freckles. So while she craved attention she also knew she would always be worrying that people were just poking fun at her behind her back.

In the minutes before school started, Catherine wandered the hallways and found her locker. The moment she stopped there, a crowd of boys flocked around her. Her brain was bombarded with names and questions of what her first class was and offers to walk her there. One of the boys, James his name was, was indeed in her first period class and when she said she would love for him to show her the way, he had looked smugly at the rest like he had just won the lottery.

It only took two periods for all the attention to start to get on Catherine's nerves. It was bad enough that her first two classes were maths and science, arguably her worst subjects, but she quickly found that just by existing she was the class distraction. The boys jostled for position to sit in the desks next to hers and they kept dropping pencils and pieces of paper on the floor, maybe hoping she would stand up and then bend over to pick them up. Catherine did not give in to the lewd attention, she figured with a few weeks time they would get used to having a girl around and maybe she wouldn't have to be so self conscious in her damn skirt. But even so, she would seek out seats in the back corner of the room for the rest of her classes.

Her drama class was her last class of the morning, right before lunch, and she couldn't wait to walk through the door. This was the whole reason she was at this school and she was going to absorb everything she could. That and it was the one class where the other girls in the school were guaranteed to be present.

The classroom was attached to the school's theater and, to Catherine's pleasure; the room itself also boasted its own tiny stage. The rest of the room, however, did not have desks but small tables that could sit four students each. She quickly glanced around the room, wanting to pick a table that would cause her the least amount of grief. She did indeed see the other girls but they were already paired off and each at a table with two posh looking boys. _So much for female solidarity,_ Catherine thought. 

A lot of the tables were already full or partially full and all male eyes in the room seemed to be watching her greedily, hoping she would sit next to them. Her eyes made their way to the back of the room where she saw a boy sitting by himself. Well sitting wasn’t quite the word. He was more lounging with his back propped against the wall and his feet were up on the chair next to him. He seemed so nonchalant and actually wasn’t staring at her, which is what made Catherine approach him.

“Hi. Mind if I sit with you?” she asked.

The boy looked up in confusion, as if he had just noticed her. His brown hair was a little long and hung in his eyes, he pushed it back with his fingers and Catherine noticed his piercing brown eyes.

“Sure,” he replied with a shrug of his shoulders. He lowered his feet from the chair and turned so he was now properly sitting at the table.

He didn’t say anything when she took the seat next to him, nervously running her fingers up and down the spiral edge of her notebook. Catherine kept glancing at him out of the corner of her eye; she had to admit he was quite good looking. If only she could pluck up the courage to actually say something to him.

“I’m Catherine,” she finally said after several long seconds of silence.

“David,” he replied.

“I’m new here.” Catherine immediately felt her face flush with embarrassment at her idiotic statement but David’s face broke into a broad genuine grin.

“I figured as much. Considering that up until today the closest thing this school had to a girl was when I wore a wig in last year’s production of Much Ado About Nothing.”

Catherine returned his smile. “I bet you looked lovely.”

“I did,” he said somewhat smugly. “But I’m also one of the only blokes at this school willing to play the part of a lady. They think it’s because I’m gay but I really just have a true appreciation for the theater, especially Shakespeare. Boys played the female roles originally so I’m really just staying true to the history of the play.”

Catherine was about to respond, she loved that he knew that particular bit of trivia, when he hurriedly added, “Not that you wouldn’t make a dazzling Beatrice. You’d look marvelous on the stage.”

Catherine felt her face warming and she smiled so widely that her cheeks hurt. This David bloke might be one smooth talker but she was happily eating it up. She didn’t feel leered at around him, if anything she’d say the tables were turned and she wouldn’t mind if he’d have to bend down for something so she could get a look at _his_ bum.

“Oh I’d love to play Beatrice,” she said in reply, surprising herself that she was continuing the conversation. In the past she would find that her shyness would prevent her from saying anything in return. “Much Ado About Nothing is one of my favorite plays.”

“Mine too. Shame we performed it a year too early, I’d love to be your Benedick. But we usually put on a Shakespeare play every autumn so maybe you and I can be the leads in that.”

The class began after that so Catherine didn’t have much time to say anything more to David, although they kept exchanging smiling glances whenever they found something the teacher said particularly amusing. When the bell rang to dismiss the class, David placed his pencil behind his ear (he hadn’t seemed to bring anything else to the class) and offered to carry Catherine’s notebook for her.

“It’s okay, I got it,” she quickly said, noting that his eyes looked slightly sad at her rebuff.

“Well do you want to have lunch together? Unless you want to sit with the other girls and gossip about all the boys you are crushing on already?” His lips quirked up in a cocky smile, as if he knew his name would be brought up in such a conversation.

Catherine barely glanced at the girls who were already nearly out the door. She knew she’d be welcome to have lunch with them if only for the fact that they had known each other for ten years and were in a new school together, but the conversation was sure to be forced and awkward. No, she’d much rather spend the free period with this new cute boy.

“I’d love to have lunch with you,” she said and when David held out his hand she took it, her stomach fluttering with butterflies.

After a brief stop at her locker David led Catherine not to the bustling cafeteria but outside to the empty courtyard. There was a round fountain with benches surrounding it in the center of the courtyard and that is where they sat.

“It’s so pretty out here,” Catherine said, opening her plastic bag of celery and carrots and pulling out a stick. “How come no one else is out here?”

“Well,” David said, drawing out the word, “technically we aren’t supposed to be. But no one ever comes out here and checks. You don’t mind causing a little bit of trouble on your first day, do you?”

Catherine shook her head no although she knew she would keep glancing at the door to make sure no one was going to come out and catch them.

“Is that all you’re going to eat?” David asked, glancing at her bag of vegetables as he dug into a sandwich and placed a large bag of crisps on his lap. “You can have half of my sandwich if you want.”

“Thank you, but I don’t eat meat. And my mum always makes me eat a big breakfast before I leave in the morning so I’m usually not that hungry at lunchtime.”

“But still, just plain carrots and celery? At least have some of my crisps.” He ripped open the top of the bag and held it out to her.

“If it will make you happy,” she said with a smile, dipping her hand into the bag and pulling out a crisp.

They chatted through the entire lunch period, mostly about how Catherine had ended up at the school and about their shared love of acting. She was surprised to find how committed David was to the craft; he’d told her unashamedly that he’d wanted to be an actor since he was three years old. She had giggled when he told her one of his first loves was the sci-fi show Doctor Who but he talked so passionately about the Daleks and the TARDIS (words Catherine had never heard before) that she couldn’t help but find it endearing.

They exchanged their schedule for the rest of the day and Catherine found herself a little disappointed that they only shared one more class together, World History, the last period of the day. As the bell rang to signal the end of lunch David gathered all of their trash and threw it in the bin and then took Catherine’s hand again as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Catherine loved the way David’s hand felt in hers, all warm and soft and big, as if it were made just for her. Without either one of them discussing it, he walked her to her next class and left her with a hearty, “See ya later,” and Catherine knew she was already crushing on him hard. The attention from all the rest of the boys didn’t even bother her, not even when they poked her on the shoulder in French class and asked her not so subtly, “Voulez-vous coucher avec moi, ce soir?” as if they were oh-so-clever. She simply brushed them off, wanting the minutes to go by faster so she could get to her last class and see David again.

Walking into World History she saw that David was already there with just his pencil on his desk (did he even have a locker or books? she thought.) He was sitting in the back row against the wall and waved her over to the empty desk next to him when he saw her.

Sitting down next to him, she let out a breathless, “Hey,” and smiled.

Right at that moment a tall blond boy sat down in the seat in front of David and loosened his tie as if school had already been dismissed. He turned in his seat and placed his elbows on David’s desk but he was looking right at Catherine.

“So you’re the ginger girl I have been hearing about all day. I see you’ve already met David. Hey Dave,” he turned toward David, “what’s Denise going to say when she finds out you have a new girlfriend?”

Catherine heard David tell the boy to shut up but she didn’t look at either one of them. She stared down at her desk, opening her notebook and absentmindedly writing the date at the top of the page. He had a girlfriend, of course he did. Why did she assume that just because he went to an all boys school and was nice to her that he was single? She felt like a fool, she had developed such a crush on the first boy who went out of his way to actually talk to her and he’d never be interested in her. Maybe they could still be friends but Catherine knew she’d feel awkward around him, at least until she figured out how to get over her crush. So for the time being, she’d have to avoid him except for the two classes they shared together.

When the final bell rang, Catherine quickly gathered up her things and hurried out the door, not bothering to look back at David. He caught up to her right as she was slamming her locker shut, hoping to rush out of the school before he could find her.

“Catherine, what happened? I was going to ask if I could walk you home but you were ignoring me back there. Is it because of what Jake said? Don’t listen to him, he was just trying to rile you up.”

“By bringing up your girlfriend who you just forgot to mention?” Catherine crossed her arms defensively in front of her chest, visibly putting her guard up.

“No, that’s what I’m saying. I don’t have a girlfriend. We broke up at the start of the summer. Jake was just trying to make you jealous, trying to get you to go after him instead. But…even if I did have a girlfriend, I would hope you would still want to be my friend.”

Catherine sighed and lowered her arms. “You’re right. I was being stupid. But can I say…I’m kind of glad you don’t have a girlfriend?” Her eyes were sparkling, hiding the nervousness she felt as she forced those bold words from her lips.

“Me too,” David replied, “although I’m hoping that will end soon.” He smiled brightly and, as had already become his custom, held out his hand for her. “So, can I walk you home?”

Catherine stood there stunned for a moment (had he just implied that he wanted her to be his girlfriend?) before taking his hand and this time being the one to lead him along the path to her home.


	2. Chapter 2

The first few days of school passed by in a blur and while some of the boys acclimated to the idea of there now being girls in their classes, a lot of the younger boys in the halls still acted awkward and immature. Catherine still felt the occasional poke on her shoulder while she was at her locker followed by a titter of pre-pubescent giggles.

She was beginning to open up and speak to some of the boys in her classes and did congregate with the other girls in between classes but during drama and World History she was glued to David’s side.

They continued to eat their lunch together out in the courtyard and Catherine relished and craved the time they had alone. She found that when she was alone with him, she could reciprocate his flirtations.

On the fourth day they had lunch together, they were sharing a bag of crisps when David suddenly yanked the bag away just as Catherine was reaching for another crisp.

“Oi!” she shouted, diving forward and reaching out for the bag. David held the bag further away from her reach but she continued to advance on him until he was leaning so far back that he was almost lying down on the bench.

“Wow this is quite forward just for one little crisp. What would the headmaster say if he could see you Miss Ford?” David grinned as Catherine’s cheeks flushed when she suddenly became aware of just how much of her body was draped over his.

David definitely did not seem to mind the proximity and when Catherine saw his hand holding the crisp bag go slack, she quickly grabbed the bag and scurried back to her side of the bench.

“Ha!” she exclaimed triumphantly. “Didn’t your mother ever teach you how to share?”

David sat back up, pushing his hair out of his eyes with his fingertips.

“As a matter of fact, she did and she’d hate to think I am not being a proper gentleman.” His lips turned down into a pout that Catherine couldn’t help but find ridiculously adorable.

“Oh get off you prawn.” Catherine rolled her eyes dramatically but let out a giggle at the same time. She took a crisp from the bag and held it dangerously close to his lips.

“Peace offering?” she suggested and David took the crisp from her fingers with his lips and then, so quickly she didn’t even know it was happening, he nipped at her index finger with his teeth.

Catherine felt a rush of heat go straight to her belly and let out a little squeak of surprise, her breath quickening.

“What was that noise for?” David asked, putting on an air of innocence even though his devilish smirk gave his true self away. He held out a crisp to Catherine, returning her gesture.

Catherine tried to steady her breathing. She parted her lips and let David place the crisp in her mouth. When he did, she gathered all of her courage, closing her eyes and letting her tongue dart out and swirl around the pad of his finger.

David let out a small, almost imperceptible moan and Catherine felt the heat return to her belly and this time her face flamed red as well. She had never had an experience quite like this before and she wasn’t sure what was supposed to come next. Thankfully, she didn’t have to worry about that as the bell rang, ending the lunch period.

David dutifully picked up their rubbish and placed it in the bin and then walked Catherine to her next class as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened between them. Although maybe it wasn’t out of the ordinary for him, Catherine thought. He had obviously had girlfriends before so maybe what she thought of as an electrifying moment was mundane to him. But he had made that little moan, oh what she wouldn’t give to hear him make that sound again, so that had to mean something right?

Catherine thought about that moment all through the rest of her classes and when it came time for World History and she saw David sitting in the back row with a giant grin on his face and a rosy color to his cheeks, she immediately knew he had been thinking of it too.

“Hey there,” she said as she took her seat at the desk next to his, “did you miss me?”

“You have no idea,” he replied. He leaned toward her and whispered so only she could hear, “I have been thinking about you and that tongue of yours for the past two hours.”

Catherine was sure her face had turned as red as her hair and she quickly looked down at the ground, embarrassed.

“You’re cute when you blush,” David said, reaching over and brushing his knuckles over her upper arm.

“Mr. McDonald,” the teacher’s voice boomed from the front of the classroom, “even though you and Miss Ford sit as far away from me as possible, rest assured I can still see you. So if you would keep your flirtations until after school hours, we have Middle Eastern civilizations to discuss.”

If possible, Catherine’s blush deepened as she immediately focused on her notebook while David sat back in his seat and idly twirled his pencil between his fingers.

David still walked Catherine home after school, even though it was several blocks out of his way. He enjoyed the conversations they had on the walk; he loved getting to know the beautiful girl who had stumbled into his life. Catherine enjoyed it too. In fact, after that first walk home, she found her steps would slow down once they turned onto her street, trying to draw out the time they had together.

This particular afternoon had turned grey and cloudy, the air so still indicating that a storm was imminent. That, however, did not stop David and Catherine from walking leisurely, hands clasped together as they quizzed one another on what their favorite things were.

“Favorite book?” David asked.

“Hmm, probably Little Women. I’ve loved it since I was a child.”

“You read Little Women as a child?” David sounded incredulous. “We just read that in English class last school year. How posh was your former school?” he asked jokingly.

Catherine scoffed and squeezed his hand. “Oh don’t be so impressed. I read it on my own when I was about nine or ten. I found an old copy of my mum’s laying around the house and I just picked it up. It’s not my fault that I was reading while you were busy watching all those supernatural sci-fi programs.”

“Ouch,” David joked. “Point taken.”

They were silent for a few seconds, the breeze picking up and rustling the leaves on the trees. The rain wouldn’t be long now but they still did not walk any faster.

“Favorite meal?” Catherine asked.

“Would it offend you if I said a nice big medium rare steak?”

“People eating meat doesn’t bother me, I just don’t prefer it for myself. So if you ever take me to a steakhouse just make sure they have stir-fry vegetables. Or pasta. As long as it isn’t covered in tomato sauce.”

“No meat and no tomato sauce. Got it. Although I have a feeling I have a picky eater on my hands.”

“Maybe a little bit. So I suppose we could just share crisps and leave it at that.”

David opened his mouth to respond when the first fat raindrops fell from the clouds. One fell on Catherine’s shoulder, another square on David’s forehead, dripping down into his eyes. Within seconds the sky had opened up and the rain poured down.

“Run?” David questioned loudly over the rain, tightening his grip on Catherine’s hand.

“Run!” Catherine agreed and they took off down the street.

Her home was only five houses away but the rain was coming down so hard that by the time they arrived they were both soaked to the bone. They stopped on the front porch, both thankful for the overhang that shielded them from the rain.

Even though it wasn’t that far of a run, Catherine still felt winded and she tried to catch her breath as David shook the raindrops out of his hair. She was suddenly painfully aware of her white button-up uniform shirt clinging to her skin although David, to his credit, wasn’t starting. Sure she caught him glance down quickly but just as quickly, his eyes were back on her face and they didn’t wander again.

Catherine tucked her hair behind her ears already feeling her natural curls frizzing up from the perspiration and humidity.

“Ugh, I was hoping you wouldn’t see my hair do this,” she said, resorting to her classic defense mechanism of pointing out her own insecurities before others could do it first. “It’s the curse of being a ginger, I suppose.”

David took a step closer to her and, without a word, brought his right hand up and untucked her hair, his fingers caressing the wet tresses.

“Your hair is beautiful,” he said. “Just like the rest of you. You’re gorgeous Catherine.”

His face was as serious as she had ever seen it and his eyes were dark with an emotion Catherine couldn’t quite decipher. But when his gaze went to her lips she knew he wanted to kiss her and, oh God, she wanted him to.

But he didn’t lean in, he just continued to caress her hair and look at her with his piercing brown eyes. Catherine felt rooted to the spot, her brain screaming at her to just be the one to lean in and initiate the kiss but another part of her was too afraid to do so.

When David finally did lean in, Catherine closed her eyes waiting to feel his lips on hers. She was suddenly painfully aware of every little detail, of how close David’s body was to hers, the smell of his cologne, the raindrops in her hair falling down her back as the rain continued to splatter down on the porch’s overhang.

However, she did not feel his lips against hers, instead they were at the shell of her ear and he whispered, “Can I take you out tomorrow night? On a date?”

If Catherine was disappointed that they hadn’t kissed just yet, that thought dissipated when she realized that David had asked her out.

He had barely finished the question when she replied, “Yes. Of course. I can’t wait.”


End file.
